Saturday, September 25, 2010

Royal News Roundup

Starting off with the House of Windsor, on Sunday HRH the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William were at Westminster Abbey along with PM David “Call me Dave” Cameron and leaders of the RAF to commemorate the pivotal World War II “Battle of Britain” wherein the British Isles were saved from German invasion by their heroic and close run defeat of the Nazi air force. The important part played by the RAF in Afghanistan was also highlighted. However, the British Royal Family has also taken a beating in the press this week when it was admitted that staff at Buckingham Palace had looked into using the Poverty Fund to find money to heat the palace. The republican-traitor crowd was quick to jump on this admittedly stupid move by the palace staff to portray the Queen as an uncaring, wealthy elitist looking to take money from the poor to save herself a few pounds. It is, of course, entirely false. For one thing, they simply looked into it (which was stupid) and nothing at all came of it. For another, the heating bill at Buckingham Palace is not peanuts but about a million pounds for the gas and electric, going up, at the same time that the allowance given the Queen has been stagnant despite rising costs of every kind. Of course, the palace staff should have known better and it is the British monarchy that is currently suffering in the press for their mistake.

In the Low Countries the pomp and ceremony was on full display for Netherlanders as HM Queen Beatrix opened the Dutch Parliament, despite ongoing disputes between the parties trying to form a government. There was some excitement when an elderly man threw a candlestick at the royal coach and was tackled by policemen but the Queen seemed undisturbed. In her speech from the throne Her Majesty called for fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget and tolerance between the feuding parties, whom she gently chastised for failing to form a government for the better part of a year now. She said public spending would be decreased and that the Dutch people would have to be innovative and work hard to remain competitive in the tougher global marketplace of today. Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Orange have been stateside speaking to the UN on the Millennium Development Goals project. Also speaking at the UN MDG summit was Sheikha Moza, wife of the Emir of Qatar.

Another subject much talked about at the UN enjoys some royal support from HM Queen Rania of Jordan, who with each passing year seems to become a bigger celebrity in the leftist community. Moving beyond her appearances on Oprah the Queen of Jordan was recently given a leadership award by Sarah Brown, wife of former British Labour PM Gordon Brown and noted leftist advocate Arianna Huffington. It was also on this occasion that Queen Rania, supported by the leaders of Belgium, France and Japan, advocated a little global redistribution of wealth in the form of a worldwide “Robin Hood” tax on all currency transactions to combat income inequality across the globe. The Queen also spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative, founded by former Democrat President Bill Clinton. Personally, I wish the Queen of Jordan would keep better company than the likes of Huffington and Brown but when it comes to politics it seems ‘Che is chic’ these days and few are those in elite circles who wish to stand apart from the crowd.

This week HH the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet visited Poland with the theme of his trip being “solidarity” (something that hits home with Poles obviously). The exiled Tibetan monarch met with students, journalists, the mayor of Wroclaw, and others, visiting a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Solidarity movement that eventually aided in ending Soviet rule over Eastern Europe. The Dalai Lama said his three life commitments in terms of solidarity were human values, mutual understanding among religions and solidarity among the peoples of Asia with of course special concern for the people of Tibet. The Dalai Lama also visited Germany and was given a red carpet reception in Hungary where he addressed the parliament. Before leaving Poland the Buddhist leader met with representatives of the other religious groups of the country to express their own solidarity.

In the Balkans, Their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Princess of Serbia were in Belgrade Friday and Sunday to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary (25 years). The event turned into quite the gathering of the formerly-crowned heads of the Balkans with HM King Michael I, Crown Princess Margarita and Prince Radu of Romania; Their Majesties King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes and Their Majesties King Simeon II and Queen Margarita of Bulgaria all attending. The reigning families of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein were also represented. I have often commented here that HRH Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia is the hardest working un-crowned royal out there in his tireless efforts to restore the Serbian monarchy. The Mad Monarchist wishes the Serbian royal couple all the best and many more years of marital happiness.

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